teams started putting a minder or three on Saad when he became our only way to run it out of the D50 this year/maybe last year too I forget when it started. there were a few games in a row where oppo just corralled the Flower out of him and it was embarrassing for us and for Saad. No Newman, Cottrell, Acres was putrid all year except one game at end of season, and other runners out of team.

In modern game you can't have a single player performing a critical role in the game, you need flexibility and options at all times to counter tactics from smart opponents who do their video watching prep on all the players who make the other team tick...

the nice thing about Carrol and Cowan and these young guns is they just get on with it. win the ball and don't panic or make the most obvious but useless handball. they can rifle a low from burning pass or chip it to the precise spot to advantage a forward like Moir or Frankie who aren't tall but play smart and can win a contest if the ball is kicked to their advantage. Saad started getting more space to run towards end of this season and I suspect it had something to do with Cowan and Matt Carrol playing higher up the ground at times and stretching the oppo shut down forwards/mids who didn't know who to focus on.

How do you know Elijah is creating issues at the club? The guy approached the club with all honesty and said I need help. Is having mental issues means creating issues for the club?

In saying that, I did hear from some insiders at the club that outside of the Mental health issues, Elijah has been a bad influence on the young players as he has pushed a few towards Gambling, Drinking and messing with recreational drugs!

I don't know if this is True or total BS.... i just don't know what to believe anymore because the club is never honest... they don't tell us anything!

So just to confirm, you're slagging off the club for not "bloody supporting" a player who you have heard is a bad influence, and is pushing players toward gambling, grog and drugs.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

The fact we've delisted Lemmey so quickly tells me that we will not entertain any possibility of trading McKay or Charlie. Also makes L Young's position quite safe for at least a year

1 media leak by his manager after talking to Papley's manager to see 'IF' he'd be up for a trade?
Strong for me is the club has put Papley through a medical.

We'd need a fit Papley (passing a medical) PLUS Heeney PLUS a pick before I'd send Curnow to Sydney. Papley at this stage of his career would be the steak knives in any Curnow deal.

What a peculiar management team.

As if the business with the Petracca boys wasn’t weird enough…

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

The secret to all of these things is... who is the player's manager? They're the ones who do most of the behind-the-scenes brokering (and leaking).

I think we would consider trading one of them but not both.

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'The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule it'
H.L. Mencken

Why is it Voss' love story with Papley? He wasn't coach when we approached Papley last time? Just a cheap opportunity to bag the coach?
Personally, I'd love to see Papley in blue. Just turned 29. He only played 11 games this year but averaged over 20 games per season the previous 9 years.
Someone with his energy and skillset would be fantastic in our front half. He;'d only be steak knives but i'd love to see him in our forward line the next few years.

I recall similar sentiments about Nick Haynes and he was a great addition. Plus he's 4 years older than Papley.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

A bit of talk that we might be interested in Sam Flanders which I find a little surprising.
He is a decent player but a bit one paced like Matt Kennedy who we were happy to let go.

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'The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule it'
H.L. Mencken

If we can get Papley for the same price we paid for Haynes I'm all in

Flashback to Silvagni’s last draft…

Pick swap with Adelaide to get Stocker, moved back from 4 to 11.
Forced a couple of matched bids at 9 & 10, traded back from 11 to 17 & the first pick in R2.

Ruined his chance to land Ash, Young or Serong.
Said yeah-nah to Flanders, Pickett, Day, Bergman, Weightman.

At least Mathieson thinks he was hard done by…

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

I don't know that he is a distraction compared to say, IDK, losing very winnable games all season. If people have inside knowledge then fine, I accept that but seems like people are making a lot of assumptions. having said that, CFC took a risk on this player, clearly, and have to live with the consequences.

So just to confirm, are those three things known to be true? I never heard any of it. I assumed he was caught in a WADA test or found with 'personal use' amount of a substance. Of course the club knows and if that's what they know then piss him off. However, I don't know any of that. So I'm not here to say "piss him off".

Your nose is taking you in the right direction.

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

I wouldn't have a clue. But the poster was bagging the club for not supporting him, and then went on to claim that he'd heard those criticisms from an insider.
Personally, I think it's a bit rich bagging the club for moving him on and then claiming that he is supposedly a significantly bad influence on the players.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Looking more and more likely that we’ll need to keep a primary list spot for Jack Ison. Hopefully the bid comes around the same time as the Camporeales.

I’m not convinced that we can delist Duffy. It’ll depend on when he signed his deal - and whether the year he missed counts towards the mandatory two… not such an issue if we’re adding Ison to the primary list.

Compared to this midseason list, Silvagni, Cincotta & a resurgent Evans are the surprises so far.

I still think Charleson is a good fit for us, but it does look as though we can raise our sights a bit.

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

Skull’s three years on the rookie list are up. He’s under the games threshold for a fourth year, but perhaps he goes on the primary list regardless.

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

Serious question : what are Geelong doing around trades that other clubs are not doing? Are you suggesting any impropriety?[/quote]

My suggestion is that "equalisation" is just a buzz word that is thrown around like politicians throw around the word "equity".
There can be no "equalisation" when Geelong can pick the eyes out of free agency.

Oh look at this! Geelong have obtained Dangerfield, Jeremy Cameron and now the MVP in that model dude Bailey Smith. He wins the MVP in his first year at the Cats. Dangerfield is his mentor.

So to get these MVPs, multi-Coleman medallists etc to the club - what do they have to give up?

Let's look at Jeremy Cameron. The media said Geelong had to "dig deep" in handing over pick 13, 15, 20. "Cats cave" was the heading on the web. What a joke. Yeah, they caved in to get a bloke that kicks 80-100 goals per season.

But GWS got Conor Stone and Ryan Angwin out of that trade! They won....

Free agency, like the father-son, like the academy, needs to be reigned in to get closer to the "equalisation" dream they want.
Geelong should not be able to recruit players in the 1st-3rd round of a draft after they pick up a free agent. They are about to win the premiership and they have done it largely as a result of free agency rules. It is like magic...Geelong are in the finals every year. I wonder how they do it?

If Geelong want Curnow they will get him. They are in the power position for all trades. Carlton would get a bunch of meaningless picks in return.